Nigerians who invested in Imagine Global Solutions Ltd have been left stranded as a couple running the firm has reportedly fled Nigeria with funds invested by thousands of customers.
The pair, Bamise and Elizabeth Ajetunmobi, reportedly went into hiding after squadering investors’ money said to be as much as N22 billion, according to social media accounts of investors.
Imagine Global Solutions Ltd claimed to be running a micro lending service to small and medium businesses, offering 22 per cent as interest on loans received and 10 per cent returns to investors.
Several victims on social media detailed how they lost between low five figures to as high as N500 million. A WhatsApp group has been created for those affected by the fraudulent scheme to pony resources towards recovering their investments. A Nairaland forum was also created by the investors.
Peoples Gazette’s efforts to get the Ajetunmobi’s for comments fell through. The company’s listed address in Ajah, Lagos, has been locked. A telephone number for the couple also failed to connect on Monday morning.
A spokesman for Zuriel Consulting Limited, Imagine Global’s legal adviser, said the law firm could not comment on investors’ funds and the disappearance of the couple.
“We have been hearing that the couple had fled Nigeria with investors’ funds,” Zuriel Consulting told The Gazette on Monday morning. “But we have no comments to make about the controversy at this point.”
The firm also said it would not confirm or debunk claims that the amount squandered was up to N22 billion. The Gazette could not independently verify the amount involved, but similar schemes in the past saw investors lose even larger amounts.
Imagine Lenders is only the latest scheme to be exposed as another ponzi business designed to fleece Nigerians. In recent months, The Gazette has covered fraudulent investment schemes such as Insha Allahu and the disappearance of Gloria Osei and Muyiwa Folorunsho, another couple declared wanted by Interpol in August for their involvement in multimillion-dollar investment.
Ms Osei and Mr Folorunsho have since obtained Commonwealth of Dominica passports, indicating that they might not return to Nigeria any time soon. It was unclear the progress of the manhunt launched for the couple by Interpol.
Last year, a scheme called MBA Forex – which promised its investors 15 per cent monthly returns, crashed in November, leaving over 100,000 investors stranded.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) froze the bank accounts linked to MBA, saying that the company was owned by Maxwell Odum, who had collected over N171 billion from its investors before crashing.
The Central Bank, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the EFCC have sent out several warnings to potential capital market investors cautioning against putting their funds in fraudulent investment schemes.
Imagine Global, which was registered in 2017, stated on its website that it has a customer base of 90,000 Nigerians, but it was unclear how many of them were able to recoup their investments before the Ajetunmobis disappeared. The couple reportedly fled to London, where a branch of Imagine Global was incorporated in August 2019.
from peoples gazette
😆🤣😂 Set awon investors bawo..Nigerians never learn and y'all should do away with not so making sense online investments mbok
ReplyDeleteNigerians NEVER learn.
DeleteE good for "investors ". Mtcheeew
DeleteMy experience from MMM left me with the fear of losing all. I have agreed with myself never to leave my cash in the hands of a Nigerian in the name of this business or that business. I alone have full control and access to my money.
ReplyDeleteI was going to join MBA last year because i have colleagues who testified that they had been into MBA for years particularly one of them who had millions in her account. But THE FEAR OF MMM is the beginning of wisdom.
MBA don crash since last year.
DeleteMBA have crash! Nigerians can easily be deceived. That's why they repacked a dead brain & a loser as President, and the intellectual individuals voted for him. How can someone promise to double your money at 10% interest rate for every month, and you believed him. They promised them the same with dollar and they voted for hardship.
DeleteI have come to realization that Nigerians believe so much in fairy tales.
Fled to London ke, won't Interpol get them in London?
ReplyDeleteNothing will ever make me fall for these ponzi schemes.
N
Well said. Thanks. Similar to my comment. Interpol will find them.
DeleteThey cant be in London.
DeleteThat was just used to deflect their whereabouts.
I learnt petitions have been sent to EFCC to collabo with interpol to get them arrested.
DeleteI heard they bought citizens passport for a country called Antigua and Berbuda for them and their kids.
Delete14:28.
DeleteI see they photocopied a page from Deizani Maduekes book.
She also bought hurriedly acquired the citizen by investment VISA of a carribean country.
Doesn't matter what passport they bought if Interpol and can show that particular country some solid evidence the passport or citizenship will be revoked and they will be repatriated
DeleteAntigua is a stunning island in the Caribbean that is a billionaires' playground. They won't be suffering there and that is for a fact.
DeleteWhat does Antigua being stunning have to do with this? You think suffering is just physical, I laugh in spanish.
DeleteNawa ooooo. Chaiiii
ReplyDeleteI'm no greedy, you can't ask me to bring 20k to collect 50k, na during mmm I dey greedy,now I don wise up
ReplyDeleteI see you adhere to the saying "once bitten, twice shy".
DeleteI'm sure this holy looking man will hold an important post in his church.
ReplyDeleteChai. Once I see title of Pastor or Imam on a business proposal I will not do business with such a person o.
DeleteNa to tear race. LOL
DeleteSo holy looking.
Seriously serious
ReplyDeleteMay God Almighty help everyone Amen. These are so called Christians fleecing people of their hard earn monies because of lack of good governance by APC government.
ReplyDeleteThe maxwell own is from CE. I know a pastor who is going through shit because of people he invited to invest.
The second one from Day...... It is well
Any Christian who is locked into the for profit world is not of God. God does not operate on any interest model. There is a ruler of all the money on this Earth and Jesus denounced him when he sought to give it to Jesus. Jesus also cast out traders and destroyed their goods. Yes, we all need money, but any Christian whose mind is set upon money wealth and doing all to get money by any means is not of the true and living God. You cannot worship God and worship mammon. If you get wealthy by accident that is no fault of your own. But too many Christians are worshiping satan through being locked into this money driven mindset instead of worshiping God through a Holy Spirit driven mindset.
DeleteFrom Daystar abi? Every church has a Judas, it is not the church's fault
Delete@anon you said it all. It's not by their words but by their fruits you shall know them. That's why I laugh when Nigerians and their pastors preach against Bill Gates and other legit rich men. Forget Gates, look inward. Judge yourself. If you have ever deceived anyone, taken money that is not yours, refused to return money that is not yours, extorted anyone, ponzi scheme etc you are worse.
DeleteI can’t believe that people are still so stupid, greedy and desperate to be investing in these Ponzi schemes. When will they learn? As for these ones they will soon be caught by Interpol because of all the big people and organisations that invested in their company.
ReplyDeleteNawa, why adding to people's suffering
ReplyDeleteMr Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi And His Image Lenders Story. What I have learned so far:
ReplyDelete1) Bamise Samson was a quiet banker who quietly did his job as a Zenith bank staff. He was with the bank for 8 years before he left to start his Image lenders startup in 2016.
Before he joined the bank, he was a graduate of Banking and Finance, from Madonna University Okija.
2) When Bamise set up his business in 2016, his first customers were his former colleagues, he was able to convince his colleagues in the bank to trust him with their funds in lieu of a 10 % monthly ROI payment.
His first investors saw their money paid promptly on time, those investors helped the young alleged scammer to spread the word that there is a new king in town who is trustworthy and a breath of fresh air.
Before one could say, Jack Robinson, Investors started flocking around Bamise with their money in lieu of a regular monthly payment from his company.
Even branch managers of commercial banks flocked to Bamise with their life savings.
Zenith bank staff were his marketers and foot soldiers.
A lot of them convinced customers that they were managing their account to invest with Bamise.
Because of this headstart of having your former colleagues in Zenith bank brought and convinced customers for your business, Bamise did not invest in media branding neither did he need social media influencers to influence for him online.
This is why his business was not popular on social media, only few people like myself knew about his business before now.
I knew him before now because a zenith bank staff told myself and Ndiya Baykay Eze Eze about him.
Bamise’s phone rang non stop from investors, convinced by his former colleagues in the bank and those callers want to invest their money with him so what is he doing with social media influencers?
3) Seeing that his fortunes and investors money with him have quadrupled, Bamise went to lure his old colleagues at Zenith bank to join him in his new startup.
He poached a lot of Zenith bank staff by offering mouth-watering salaries they could not resist and most times, double of what they earned at Zenith bank.
Because of this, a lot of Zenith bank staff resigned in droves to join Bamise in his wild goose chase and to be fair to them, they did not know what they are signed up for.
He needed the validation that Zenith bank staff are working for his startup, to convince investors that he was real.
Boy! Bamise paid crazy salary salaries to his former colleagues who resigned to join him.
Imagine earning 200k per month in Zenith bank only for Bamise to offer to pay you 1 million naira. You don hit gold mine be that.
4) With his consistent monthly payment to his investors, Bamise had this brainwave: why not open Image lenders office abroad to cater for Nigerians in the diaspora who have been making enquiries on how to invest with his business in lieu of monthly ROI payment?
Image Lenders offices in China, Ghana, Dubai, South Africa and London were born and these offices were set up to attend to only Nigerians in diaspora who wish to invest in his business with their funds for monthly payment.
To be continued...
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Thank God you put copied
DeleteChai!!
DeleteI enjoyed reading this. I never heard about the scam of a business. I don't just trust my money into the hands of any Nigerian. They can disappoint for the world
ReplyDelete5) As the investor's money with him grew, to an excess of $ 50 million dollars at the last count, the young man knew he had to change his lifestyle to reflect his new status.
He bought a duplex at Ned Okonkwo's Victoria crest project in Lekki Lagos and paid cash up front, he is now a big boy so money is not a problem.
The only problem is how to spend it.
He also bought a house in UK and Dubai, to reflect his new status as a billionaire.
6) To also reflect his status as a man of means, a man of Timbre and calibre, Bamise also bought a citizenship passport of Antigua and Barbuda for his wife, himself and his two kids.
He paid over $50,000 to be able to do this, my sauce told me.
7) Bamise loves God as he worships at Sam Adeyemi's Daystar Church.
He was even a worker with the church and does not miss Sunday service except he is not in Lagos.
As a child of God, his monthly tithe runs into millions of naira and was one of the biggest spenders in Sam Adeyemi's church
God has blessed his hustle so he needs to show his gratitude by giving back generously to the church and he did on a scale never seen before.
8)Elevation Church in Lekki was one of his investors. Godman Akinlabi, the senior pastor of the church invested over 500 million naira with Bamise in lieu of a 10 % monthly payment.
Bamise was consistent in payment to the pastor and other investors who invested with him till he disappeared last month
9) Bamise was a sweet talker, his innocent looks, his love for God and the fact he has a background in finance influenced his investors to trust him with their money.
10) At the end of the day, the monthly ROI payment was not sustainable and the fact that Bamise was living a luxurious life on Investors funds, so the business with so much promise crashed like a pack of cards, just like other Ponzi businesses before it.
11) Piggyvest has nothing to do this with failed Ponzi scheme business that Bamise ran so I don’t know why some of us are spreading the false news that Piggyvest invested over 2 Billion with Bamise, causing panic for Piggyvest customers. It is not good ooo.
12)Such a sad story. I hope that Bamise and his fleeing wife are tracked down soon so that they can refund the investors the money that they ran away with.
Attached in the picture is Bamise, his dear beloved wife and his beloved pastor, Sam Adeyemi of Daystar church.
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Of course he must be a God-fearing church-going man. How else will Nigerians trust him if he is not a member of a church?
DeleteWow, thanks for sharing.
DeleteWhy tag Pastor Sam Adeyemi? How is he involved in the man's biz. Did he ask him to go and steal?
DeletePeople with no integrity, thats how someone I know borrowed 1million naira from someone back then in 2013 thru the help of a parish priest, then decided to change his location. People will keep putting permanent stain/curse on themselves because of money. Too bad! #SAO#
ReplyDeleteMost Nigerians find it so difficult to pay debt.
DeleteYen yen yen
DeleteLet's face the truth, folks who invested monies in these ponzi schemes are GREEDY. Those who invested as much as 500 MILLION either scammed or stole from the public coffers themselves.
ReplyDeleteSo let the dead bury their dead.
😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐
@Anon 14:13, you are partially correct. I'd say a good number of those who invested monies in these ponzi schemes stole the money. At the same time there are some who invested their hard earned savings in these ponzi schemes.
Deletethey won't escape punishment this time around
ReplyDeleteHow can you defraud people of their hard earned money and sleep peacefully at night?
ReplyDeleteAs long as they're sleeping in Canada or some other advanced country, they will sleep well. Evil minds dont get bothered
DeleteSo you think Canada and other advanced countries are heaven such that automatically you will sleep well, i laugh in spanish.
DeleteWhen I saw this news yesterday, I wondered why Nigerians don't learn. If it is too good to be true then it is a scam.
ReplyDeleteHow can they promise to give you 10% of your investment every month and you believed they were real. They could never have sustained that 10% monthly payment on investment, never. Check all the legitimate banks, which of them offers up to 5% returns on investment or fixed deposit or whatever? Won't they pay staff? Take care their own needs, etc all from the business?
They said he was Sam Adeyemi's church member. And that he used to pay heavy tithe and and was the pastor's favourite
ReplyDeleteAnyone paying heavy tithes is automatically pastors fav
DeleteIt is sheer greed that will make anyone invest in these outlandish schemes with outlandish ROI.
ReplyDeleteSo Muyiwa and Glory have run abi? Buahahahahahahaa Awon werey alaso.
Cant they be extradited? Same with that EATRICH guy and that 21 year old 'CEO'. The funny thing is even a day before they run away they will still be inviting thieves.
Me I believe investors dont need their money sha, because if you really really need your money, you know what to do.
All the investment schemes have crashed. Those that have not crashed will still crash. If you like use your ear to hear, if you like use am to decorate your head.
#avoid all those hungry local Facebook influenzas that can endorse nylon bag of shit for money. Dem know demself.
Gloria Osadebame Igberaese and Muyiwa Folorunsho 2.0
ReplyDeleteHave those ones been caught?
😂😂😂Ezra Izu of HHFX come and see your mentor ooo. What these thieves dont realise is that such money don't last because you didn't work for it. Muyuwa and Gloria enjoy while it lasts
DeleteI prefer to eat my money or save it in bank than investing in nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAll this yeye scheme or Ponzi and some other investment that has no future assurance is a waste
Pls invest in agriculture. Start farming.
DeleteEven farming in Nigeria is not safe anymore. Fulani herdsmen a d unknown gunmen be kidnapping and killing farmers
DeleteOur people and their love for Ponzi schemes. When you show them legit investments like Mutual Funds or fixed deposits, they will tell you the returns is too small.
ReplyDeleteSome people get mind shall.
ReplyDeletePeople will never learn, I have learn big time and will never fall victim again.
ReplyDeleteAbeg how about OmegaPro o?
ReplyDeleteMake i run?
You are still asking make you run? siddon there, you better fly.
DeleteRun.
DeleteJust farm with your money . Simple
DeleteNo o.
DeleteWait till you're able to buy a house in Banana island.
looooooool
DeleteStill asking?
Mba nu. Stay. Some of you exchanged your brains for funnels. Upon the long post there and all the comments.
DeleteAll the ponzi schemes that have crashed you are still asking DAFT questions.
Stay please.
Some Nigerians are naturally greedy hence they fall prey over and again. And for the scammers, it's just a matter of time. Whether the law catches up with them or not, they will surely pay.
ReplyDeleteNa why pastors de flex.
DeleteThey fall easily, and the economic recession iant helping people think straight
Ponzi schemes are not sustainable. I believe I learned this in SS1 in Economics class. Our economics teacher was very good and we were young smart students asking her all sorts of questions, including why printing money is not an option. But you still see graduates asking why CBN is not printing money and pouring that into the eceonomy. My Dad too is never a fan of any join join and also warned us against it when we were still young. That people still fall for this is a failure of educational system and even parenting.
ReplyDelete👌
DeleteDigital footprints go catch them. Just get Interpol involved. Or use social media. This is an easy case. So easy!
ReplyDeleteYimu.
DeleteYou think they wouldnt change their names? New passport and all
Shey they will change their fingerprints too? New passport ko, new passport ni.
DeleteImagine
ReplyDeleteWhat a name.
The investors should continue to imagine.
They are not investors rather greedy people.
ReplyDeleteBarraza in Bayelsa State has also closed
I've read comments and I would never invest in a ponzi scheme. In fact, I wasn't seated by mmm and never invested in it but I did invest in farmfunded and now no money, no interest and their number has been disconnected for about 4 months now. It begs the question, are all Nigerians scammers? Because after this, I can't invest a dime in any Nigerian initiative and the perpetrators of this evil, don't they ever think of how it would affect genuine investors? Stella, my comment is coming late but hopefully you can post it on in house news or something. We need to discuss how the greed of some people can negatively affect everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI want to do a How to easily spot a ponzi scheme. There are 5 common characteristics in all these crashed ponzi schemes. I just no get strength to write this morning. Maybe some other time.
DeleteAnon 1:44, please find time, find strength to write it...i beg. You might be saving a life. See it as Personal Social Responsibility. One need to know, ponzi, network marketing etc...i appeal to you. Thank you in advance.
ReplyDeleteOperating Fraudulent Ventures is now the order of the day.
ReplyDelete